Wednesday, October 27. 2010

Click Image to enlarge

The Super Friends line was launched in 2007 as a way to introduce children to DC's popular heroes while offering "kid friendly" stories about teamwork, sharing, safety, and responsibility. Taking its name from the famous cartoon series, the new Super Friends line consists of figures, vehicles, playsets, and a tie-in comic book. Despite his image as the "Dark Knight," Batman has some undeniably cool toys, and several versions of the Batmobile have been released so far. Today we'll be looking at the "Shake 'N Go Batmobile."

Click Image to enlarge

Packaging

Fisher-Price's Shake 'N Go cars are all packaged on an display card with a thick base under the car itself. The car is not enclosed at all, so buyers can play with it some before they make a purchase. The package is made from very heavy card stock, so there's no risk of the toy crushing it or tearing it off the peg without help. The base is hollow, and to remove the car you need to cut or tear open a perforated flap on the bottom of the base and undo two twist screws. I've encountered these twist screws in other Mattel diecasts, and appreciate them every time. No tools are required, and if you really want to put the car & packaging back together you can do so easily. For some reason, these have to be twisted clockwise to undo them...so if you're used to "left to loosen, right to tighten," these are backwards.

The bigger problem is that by turning the package upside down to free the car, you'll be likely set off the voice and motor about 10,000 times. It turns out that this is easy to fix: there's a slide switch just below the front air dam that you can reach while the car is still on the base. But until you get it off the base (or read a review like this one), you won't know it's there.

The hollow base also includes a generic instruction sheet, which mostly tells you to buy new batteries and not throw away the old ones. It does mention the aforementioned slide switch, and gives a brief rundown on how to activate the car and what other accessories are available.

Click Image to enlarge

Casting/Paint

You may expect a kids' toy like this to be pretty crude, but the design team at Fisher-Price deserve credit for packing a lot of great detail into this Batmobile. The grilles are all nicely textured, the engine detail looks like a fancy version of a modern intake plenum, and the rear fascia has a fairly complex arrangement of fins and exhaust nozzles. Little touches like the roof fins, chassis plating, or the way they made the speaker resemble the Batwave (from The Batman all go to show that they wanted this to look good. Even some necessary evils like the softer center fin and the screw holes behind the rear wheels were integrated nicely into the design.

Paint applications are limited to the wheels, windows, lights, engine, and grilles. These are generally well done, though there are some bleed issues on the wheels. Silver is used for the headlights, main grille, engine, side vents, and rear vents. Medium gray is used for the windows. Yellow is used for the wheels and details on the front fascia.

Click Image to enlarge

Features/Accessories

The big play value here is the "Shake 'N Go" feature. Any large movement or - even easier - flipping the car upside down for a second will activate one of two engine sounds, accompanied by Batman saying "To the Batcave!" or "Turbo engaged!" after a few seconds, the car will then give a short spin from its rear wheels, enough to move the car a foot or so. Shake the car forward and backward a few times, and it will give you a much longer run. I got about 15 feet after a few good shakes on a hard, smooth floor.

Accuracy

"Accuracy" is kind of hard to judge on an all-new design like this. It is very similar to its sibling, DC's "My First Batmobile," but is not an exact recreation of it. The front end is the biggest difference, with the larger car having a much simpler and more rounded nose.

Overall

This is a fun toy and a great addition to any Bat-Fan's collection. It's a unique design that works well as a Batmobile (this isn't just a Batman symbol slapped on an existing casting), kids will like the action feature, and adults can add it to their diecast Batmobile collections. The only downside can be easily negated thanks to the handy switch under the front bumper. Very highly recommended.

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above:

Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.